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“It’s fine. Gina worked it out.”
An idea came to him. Another chance for Kendra to show off her skills. “I wasn’t the only one there that night. Why don’t you handle the media? You’re much better at that shit than I am. Remember our public speaking class, when I started my speech with ‘Hello, I’m Jason Moosedale?’”
She laughed. “Iconic. But you’re better at that kind of thing now. People want to hear from the hot firefighter, not the witness.”
“The sexy witness,” he corrected as he sank back on his pillows. “Come on, this is the perfect chance to show everyone how well you can represent the town.”
Looking exasperated, she threw up her hands. “How many times do I have to prove myself?”
“To me, none. But I know those older folks. It might take them a while, but they usually end up in the right place. You have to push them, without making it obvious that you’re pushing them.”
“But they already think I’m too pushy and have too many ideas.”
He squinted at her. Fatigue was dragging him down again, but she had a point. “Okay, then forget them. Do it for me. You’re a star. You’ll make us look good.”
She scooted closer to him on the bed. “When did you come up with this brilliant plan? While you’ve been fighting a hundred and two degree fever and hallucinating?”
“How do you know I’ve been hallucinating?”
“Because you kept talking about me getting naked. And that hasn’t happened.”
Good God. Had he really talked in his sleep about his Kendra fantasies? “Hallucinations aren’t the same as fantasies.”
“Are fantasies the same as premonitions?”
That wicked wink could only mean one thing. “Can we just pause this whole conversation until I feel better?” he begged. “So I can follow up with actual actions?”
She laughed and slid off the bed. He looked up at her, so bright and confident. She wore a short fawn-colored suede jacket over a white blouse. Perfect for killing it on the TV news. Some network would probably want to hire her as an anchor after she showed off her skills. “Let’s talk later after you feel better. Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“Rus--”
“Besides Rusty. I’ll be back with him later.”
“One more thing. Holly said a certified letter came from Caldwell. I want to see it.”
“About that…” She fingered with the flap of her messenger bag. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to talk about that yet.”
“Tell me. Before I drop off a cliff here.”
She sighed. “Holly got it wrong. He’s donating half a million dollars to the fire department, not to you personally. Hey, are you okay?”
A broad smile was slowly spreading across his face, matching the sense of relief flooding through him. “Good, thanks.”
“Good? You aren’t disappointed? I didn’t want to be the one to crush your dreams, but are you actually happy he’s not giving you that money?”
His eyelids were getting dragged down by lead weights, and his speech sounded slurred. “Sssssuper happy.”
“You don’t want to be a millionaire?”
Sleep knocked him out like someone pushing him into a river, and as he floated off into the darkness, he heard himself say the thing he avoided admitting at all costs, even to Holly. “I’m already a millionaire.”
Twelve
Jason had always had a great sense of humor, but being able to joke while falling asleep with a fever was next level. It kept Kendra in good spirits all the way through her time in front of the news cameras.
Two stations from Minneapolis had sent crews, along with someone from a cable news channel. They all rented separate boats to get shots of the debris still floating on the surface, which added up to a mini-economic boom for local boat-owners.
She gave animated interviews to each station, describing what she’d witnessed and showing them the kayak that she’d dragged into the water to rescue Tyler.
